Differences between purchased and subscription content from the Zune Marketplace

This article describes the differences between purchased and subscription content from the Zune Marketplace.

"Purchased content" refers to songs, TV shows, movies, or music videos that you obtain from the Zune Marketplace for a one-time fee. You pay the fee by using Microsoft points. For more information about the benefits of buying songs from the Zune Marketplace, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: "Subscription content" refers to a song that you rent from the Zune Marketplace for a monthly fee. The fee that you pay lets you use the content until your subscription expires. For more information about the benefits of Zune Marketplace music subscriptions, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: To determine whether a song that you have downloaded to your computer is purchased or subscription content, view the media usage rights of the file:

1. Start the Zune software.
2. In the collection, right-click the song, and the click Properties.
3. View what is listed under DRM.

Subscription files typically have expiration dates and will note that the files do not include burn rights. Songs that have been purchased will indicate that a permanent license exists and that the file does have burn rights. You can also show the DRM column in the collection to identify purchased and subscription content. To display the DRM column, follow these steps:

1. Start the Zune software, and then navigate to your music collection.
2. Click List to switch to list view.
3. In the collection, right-click a column heading, and then click Choose Columns.
4. Click to select the DRM check box, and then click OK.